Greek Pasta Pie

Submitted by noway

"The third of three pasta pies from an old BH&G cookbook."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 113.39 g elbow macaroni
• 2 eggs, beaten in separate bowls
• 78.78 ml parmesan cheese, grated
• 14.79 ml margarine or 14.79 ml butter, cut up
• 236.59 ml cottage cheese, drained
• 141.74 g frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 226.79 g ground lamb or 226.79 g ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 59.14 ml chopped green pepper
• 177.44 ml tomato sauce
• 1.23 ml ground cinnamon
• 118.29 ml feta cheese, crumbled

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cook macaroni according to package directions and drain.
3. Combine 1 beaten egg, Parmesan, and butter in a medium bowl. Add macaroni and toss to coat.
4. Press macaroni mixture into the bottom and sides of a greased 9-inch pie plate to form a crust.
5. Combine 1 beaten egg, cottage cheese, and spinach in small bowl. Spread over the spaghetti crust.
6. Cook meat, onion, and green pepper in skillet until the meat is brown. Add tomato sauce and cinnamon, cook until heated through.
7. Spoon meat mixture on top of cottage cheese mixture.
8. Bake uncovered at 350F for 25 minutes.
9. Top with feta and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Reviews

[jessi_mcg]

This was really yummy, and it went over very well with DH and 2 yo DS (always a bonus!). I made some substitutions but feel confident rating it 5 stars as I don't think the essence of the recipe was changed at all. I used whole wheat rotini as it is what I had on hand, and realized too late I was out of parmesan so used shredded mozzarella instead. I also used ground turkey as we don't eat a lot of red meat. Finally, I subbed oregano for the cinnamon because I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon in savory dishes. The feta really made the dish, IMHO, and using a flavored one (I used tomato basil) added even more. The only thing I'll do differently next time is I will add salt and pepper to the cottage cheese/spinach layer. Thanks for a hearty, healthy recipe! Made for 123 Hits tag.